Elderly Viking Kitty with Diabetes

1/4/10 | Battle Axe

[Battle Axe]

Miss Peach has been a Viking Kitty since I have been on Free Republic, but tonight she is in the hospital with severe diabetes.

Is there anyone else how has come across this problem?

What did you do and what was the outcome?

The sugar reading was 417. She will be 15 years old in 7 weeks.

[goat granny]

goat granny is senile, she though you were talking about a 15 year old person, after reading replies, I gather its a 15 year old cat....don’t know anything about cat diabetes...Signed silly goat granny

[Professional Engineer]

Our own Viking Kitty developed diabetes as well. He made it about a year on twice daily insulin. Last fall he had turn for the worse and couldn’t be balanced enough to recover.

We do miss him.

[empressword]

Our kitty is now 14, he's been diabetic for over 2 years now. Doing fine, two shots a day though, one at 7:30 a.m. one at 7:30 p.m.....he sits still for them, doesn't mind at all....but he gets a treat so he's mostly waiting for that. He gotten used to the routine

He stayed at the vet for a few days in the beginning, we did have to rush him back a few weeks later...too much vetsulin, he had a seizure...then we kept Karo syrup on hand but it didn't happen again, thankfully, still something to have on hand in case.

He's his old self and is enjoying his kitty life, it's hard to go away though, we have to get a pet sitter, that can give needles.

[SwampFoxOfVa]

I also have a 13 year old cat with diabietes that I have been giving 2 injections a day to. She gets 9 units each time and I wll take care of her until her last breath, she is my baby. When she was diagnosed she was in very bad shape, had lost a lot of weight and was listless. Once we started her on insulin she got back to normal in a short amount of time and even plays again. I give her her injections at mealtime while she eats, she doesn't even notice the injection (she's too busy eating :-}).

SF

[Jewels1091]

not that I'm aware of, we check with a human monitor and poke her callus on the elbow. She doesn't mind a bit, in fact she now knows when her sugar is going low and let's us know. Before we started the monitor, the vet wanted us to run around the yard after her to collect urine, but that testing only checks for keytones, which shows when they are high, it won't show if they take a sugar dive, which is what will kill them. We had several scares with that, her worse was 10!! She got Kero syrup for that one, course she didn't mind a bit.

[VA Red]

I think it is kinder to put a cat down than give it shots every day. I know, y’all get attached to a particular special friend. I am not trying to be cruel or insensitive. You can get a doomed cat from the pound for far less money in honor of your late friend, and do a lot more good that way, I believe.

Believe it or not, it's really simple to give a cat or dog an injection. The reaction of the pet depends on the animal's pain tolerance and personality - each animal is individual in this regard. My favorite cat had renal failure for the last couple years of his life. I gave him fluid injections under his skin and also Pepcid injections for his nausea. He tolerated all of it very well and it greatly improved his health.

[Republican Extremist]

[sanjoaquinvalley]

You might want to read the replies. Pets are rarely put down for diabetes. The treatmant is rountine. Just as there are many dogs that require meds for seizure, older pets that need arthritis drugs, even neurotic pets that need sedatives. Most pets will eventually need something, it does not necessarily mean they are suffering. As to not liking the injection, cats dislike most things that are good for them and delight in that which they don’t need like thread with a needle attached to it, hot chicken in a skillet and the icicles on a Christmas tree.

[SmartInsight]

SAA — I don’t know if you still do the kittypings, but if you do, you may want to ping the list — FReeper kitty needs help.

[Nepeta]

Diabetes is NOT a death sentence in cats!

www.felinediabetes.com is an excellent site, with solid, useful information. Referring there helped me keep my diabetic cat going for years after he was diagnosed--he's still alive today.

Briefly: you will need to measure blood sugar levels at home, with a handheld meter. Select one that takes a small sample size. This is the most difficult part.

You may be giving your cat insulin. This is not difficult--it is far easier than giving a cat a pill.

Dry foods are probably killing our cats. I don't know of any formulas that do not contain grains, and cats are OBLIGATE CARNIVORES. They do not have the metabolic means of dealing with a heavy load of carbohydrates.

Switch to a good canned, meat based formula. The feline diabetes site has a chart showing brand names and levels of fibre. Low fibre indicates low plant content, which indicates low carbohydrates. Read labels. Avoid "gravy" formulas. There is a relationship between price and quality, but it isn't exact--you can probably find something reasonably priced that will keep your cat in great health.

My cat has lived 6+ years after diagnosis. He will be 17 shortly. He's slightly arthritic, but still sweet and playful. The last 6 years have been good years.

[dangerdoc]

Cat bites are very dangerous. I’ve seen someone lose a finger over a cat bit. I’ve also seen dozens of people admitted to the hospital for antibiotics and have multiple surgeries to recover from what looked like a minor bite.

You would do well to get your bites looked after. Now as opposed to later, they can turn south in less than 24 hours. In addition, you need to not put yourself in the position of being bitten again.

[who knows what evil?]

Dry foods are probably killing our cats. I don't know of any formulas that do not contain grains, and cats are OBLIGATE CARNIVORES. They do not have the metabolic means of dealing with a heavy load of carbohydrates.

Like I tell people all the time at the store..."when is the last time you had to chase cats out of your corn field?"

[who knows what evil?]

Corn syrup in human food = diabetes; corn meal in pet food = diabetes. Simple as that.

[Nepeta]

Dry foods are probably killing our cats. I don't know of any formulas that do not contain grains, and cats are OBLIGATE CARNIVORES. They do not have the metabolic means of dealing with a heavy load of carbohydrates.

Like I tell people all the time at the store..."when is the last time you had to chase cats out of your corn field?"

Exactly. The dry formulas are convenient, and they seem cheap, but the effects on our cats are dire. The dry foods have favors added to them to make the cats eat them, but it's a trick. I try to tell people to feed the canned stuff, be it ever so messy and inconvenient.

Dry cat food is a killer. The other good thing about canned food is the moisture--the likelihood of the plugging of the urethra in male cats is much reduced with wet canned food.

[who knows what evil?]

Dry cat food is a killer. The other good thing about canned food is the moisture--the likelihood of the plugging of the urethra in male cats is much reduced with wet canned food.

I don't believe there is one brand of dry cat or dog food sold in stores that I would feed to any of my pets. They are ALL crap.

[Bubbette]

Sometimes, as with our 18 year old cat, Ivan, if they are being treated with steroids, like the Depo shot the vet gives for various problems, it can throw them into diabetes. 25Ivan had some really bad skin conditions and each year he would get Depo shots. After several in a row, he was diagnosed with diabetes. I had no idea that could happen. We went to a different vet after we started on the insulin shot regimen, She told us that sometimes it will resolve itself after the steroid works out of the system, usually about a month. Well, after a little over a month, and day long blood level tests, he cas declared back to normal. Thank God! It is a pain but can be managed. You can also watch blood sugar with a urine test (yes it can be done)! Prayers for you and your furbaby!

[Battle Axe]

Thanks for your concern. I just washed it again with soap and then hydrogen peroxide.

Miss Peach did bite a man who needed to have surgery on his hand. It was because he had diabetes himself and it was untreated. He had to have a hand surgeon to operate. Fortunately, my orthopedic surgeon is certified in hands. That Dr. told him that the cat had saved his life by forcing him to treat his diabetes. Otherwise he would have fallen into a diabetic coma while driving his new motor home to Canada. so they did not sue me, but have sent Christmas cards to Miss Peach.

[Slings and Arrows]

[mom4kittys]

Believe me the hydration makes them feel SO much better. Don’t even worry about the little stick of the needle. I don’t understand why people think it is cruel.

[mom4kittys]

see my post #39. Most older kitties at some point have kidney failure.
Dehydration makes them feel absolutely miserable and the fluids give immediate relief.